Upcoming MMOs that are different or worth looking at?

I have been looking for a new MMO since late Wrath but have yet to find one actually worth investing time in. I was monetarily captivated by GW2 but after doing research on it and playing it for a few weeks I realized it was actually the opposite of what I look for in an MMO, that being meaningful and challenging character progression and a need for social and community interaction.

My favorite MMO was FFXI, you might of needed to play for 6 months to a year to get to the max level but when you did it felt great. You also made a ton of friends (some who I still talk to to this day), because you need them. On top of that leveling was actually fun and taught you about your class much better than any MMO I have played. You played with other people and if you didn't put out enough damage, heal correctly, or tank right, your group would die and you would be punished. You would lose a ton of experience (almost 1/3rd at max level), have a long travel back to camp and possibly lose your group. The endgame bosses were hard as nails, with one going 2 years until it was killed. Even the leveling story missions would beat you into the ground some taking me months to complete. PvP was terrible but I have never liked MMORPG PvP and probably never will.

No MMOs now a days really has the feeling of these old games, and in fact they seem to be moving in the opposite direction. I know most people despise these idea but I loved them and honestly really miss it. Is there any MMO that I should really be looking forward to, or one that has any of these ideas behind it? Or am I just a relic of the past hoping for glory days that will never happen again?

Don't think anything like that is coming out in the near future, only games that looks interesting to me is Darkfall: Unholy Wars but that's really PvP focused, and Defiance (SyFy and Trion working together, running a tv show and MMORPG of the same IP and one having an impact on the other, interesting and unique concept at least).

And games like you talk about are probably over, at least from big developers so it's up to the indie devs now.

Anyway, if you don't already see where I'm going with this, allow me to spell it out: the only meaningful MMORPG "endgame" -- i.e., something novel to do after the progression process is over -- is that of the sandbox.

If you said you like FFXI, look intot he re-make of FFXIV, they totally remaking the game since it sucked, and this time round it looks pretty good.

PS. by the way you don't loose 1/3 of exp, there is a cap for exp loss, it is more like around 1/10, less if you managed to get R3. But I do like the idea of some bosses stay hard throughout all the expansions, and the story telling in FFXI was much better. I am keeping a close eye on FFXIV: ARA, it does have potential....

i'm looking forward to the elder scrolls online. love the lore, the combat is active like skyrim with all the cooldowns and abilities like wow and while we know little about it, what we have seen and known makes it look pretty interesting

Possibly eldar scrolls but not holding much hope
Age of wushu to a extent the whole running on water jump up buildings crouching tiger hidden dragon style looks awesome in videos but the beta launch keeps getting pushed back
currently still enjoy guild wars 2 and should hold my attention for quite a while looking forward to see what they do for halloween

FFXI was a truly epic game and nothing will come close it to ever again. Those kind of games just won't get a big enough audience to compete with more casual friendly games. Fighting and sneaking your way up Uleguerand Range or soloing shit in Sky or Sea was amazing. Running everyone on foot, no flying mounts, one time use ground mounts (chocobo), it truly was a Role Playing Game. WoW sort of had some of that at the beginning, but went downhill in wrath and cata. I'm keeping an eye on FF14 2.0 in the hopes that it'll rekindle some of the fun I had with FFXI.

If you said you like FFXI, look intot he re-make of FFXIV, they totally remaking the game since it sucked, and this time round it looks pretty good.

PS. by the way you don't loose 1/3 of exp, there is a cap for exp loss, it is more like around 1/10, less if you managed to get R3. But I do like the idea of some bosses stay hard throughout all the expansions, and the story telling in FFXI was much better. I am keeping a close eye on FFXIV: ARA, it does have potential....

Was it only that much? It has been so long and for some reason I remember it being a lot more. Then again the fact that I down leveled fighting one of the sky gods once or twice probably doesn't help my memory. The story telling in FFXI was probably better than any MMO, even TOR I would say. Man do I miss the RoZ/CoP missions story.t ro

I'm hopefully for a Reborn but I'm not holding my breath. I'm afraid it will take the WoW route and not one closer to FFXI style which most fans want.

It's being made by the guys who made EVE Online. Supposed to focus on the social aspect of vampires running a city, with actual players getting into positions of power. Oh, and it will have permadeath!

But, yeah. WAY the fuck down the line.

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You gave faces to my dreams and nightmares and sparked my imagination throughout my entire life. You will be missed.Hans Rudolf Giger
2/5/1940 - 5/12/2014

Have you looked at secret world? its some sort of new MMO, I havent tried it but a friend who did liked it a lot. Personally looking forward to the Elderscrolls MMO, has a lot of potential that it probably wont meet but here's hoping !

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It's being made by the guys who made EVE Online. Supposed to focus on the social aspect of vampires running a city, with actual players getting into positions of power. Oh, and it will have permadeath!

But, yeah. WAY the fuck down the line.

wow... if it weren't for the permadeath part, that would sound sick.

i'm pretty sure it won't be anything innovative, but elder scrolls online is at least worth a look for the elder scrolls lore.

more action based combat, with the foundry, there is a huge focus on User generated content. (The foundry lets you make your own instances/dungeons/campaigns/caves/sewers/houses and the list goes on. You can add in stuff like furniture, any type of object or ground clutter. Fully customizable enemies and npcs and what not)